Wine Pairing at The Spot

First off, let me set the scene.  If you have not yet visited The Spot on Shelburne Road, be sure to check it out.  Typically open for breakfast and lunch, The Spot, housed in a former kitschy gas station, offers a tasty variety of Hawaiian style fare.  This surf-style restaurant boasts a dining room filled with surf photos and posters, huge fish tank with lots of colorful tropical fish, palm trees and bamboo tables.  The garage doors let ample sunlight filter in (if we’re having a sunny day here in Vermont), adding to the beachy atmosphere.  All of this topped off with true Hawaiian Kona coffee!  It’s a must try! 

During the warmer months, The Spot is open for dinner Thursday through Saturday nights (hoping these dinner hours will come back in the spring!), and occasionally, the Spot hosts a wine pairing night.  This past Tuesday was one such event.  As one of the most unpretentious wine pairing events I’ve ever been to, I found that it is so easy relax and really enjoy the wine, the food, and the company.  Ian Delorme, a local wine expert, provided fascinating history about the Argentinean wine we were sipping (or maybe gulping) while we were treated to a delicious 4 course meal, including vegetable empanadas, Brazilian fish stew, grilled flank steak with chimichurri and humitas (corn cake).   All in all, a wonderful meal, perfectly matched wines, and more than enough food and drink to satisfy!  Be on the lookout for another wine pairing at The Spot in the coming months – you won’t want to miss it!

Bowling: So Underrated

I am not going to lie, as much fun as heading to the mountain and spending all day riding can be, there comes a point in the Vermont winter when another winter activity is needed, just to spice things up a little.  Otherwise, we run the risk of turning into hermits, held up in our homes, dreading the wintry mess that has become our yards, driveways, and sidewalks. 

This weekend, a group of us decided to give bowling a try.  The verdict?  Bowling is way underrated!  We had a blast!  Being a thrifty crew, we decided to wait for Cosmic Bowling to begin ($15 all you can bowl from 10:00pm to 1:00am at Champlain Lanes on Shelburne Road), so we killed some time in the arcade.  I don’t know the last time I was in an arcade, but let me tell you, there’s something so satisfying about watching those tickets spit out of the machines, collecting them, and turning them in for crappy prizes.  We walked away with mini gold-fish playing cards, purple wonder woman-like bracelet, rubber snake, and a spongy dinosaur. 

Once the bowling started, I am not sure if I was more entertained by the game itself, or the stellar people-watching.  Either way, a good time was had by all.  Some of us struggled with the bowling ( I scored a whopping 74 in my best game; I am way better suited for wii bowling), while others should just turn pro (we had one guy in our group score a 228, and another scored 235!!), and then there were the cosmic bowling prizes (yup, one in our group scoreda one dollar bill for getting a strike with a red pin).  The night wouldn’t have been complete without a couple rounds of jello shots, and of course, some classic selections on the juke box . . .Paradise City, Beast of Burden, and a little Proud Mary. 

All in all, great time!  If you haven’t done the bowling thing in a while, winter’s the perfect time to give it another try.  Hmmmm . . .maybe a it’s time to join a winter league?  

Escaping Vermont Cold

With the beginning of the year in Vermont come those frigid temperatures that this state’s natives are all too familiar with.  The biting air, the bone-chilling wind, the take-your-breath-away wall of cold when you step foot outside for the first time.  But we’re a tough brood.  As much as we Vermonters complain about the cold, the truth is we’re proud of our ability to endure it.  “You think it’s cold where you are?” we say to our Bostonian friends, “it’s 25 below here.  You’re practically living in tropical conditions with your whopping 8 degrees!”

But enduring such cold days is made more bearable by seeking refuge in Burlington’s most welcoming, warm bars and restaurants.  At the top of the list. . . American Flatbread.  Coming in from the cold, I l am always immediately welcomed by, not only the warmth, but the aroma of fresh, delicious flatbread pizza being cooked in the open wood fire hearth.  Though there is almost always a wait to be seated, the ever-amiable crowd at the bar always finds a way to fit at least a few more.  Flatbread’s delicious selection of home-brewed and local beers rarely disappoint.  Swigging back an Allagash always helps to thaw my insides, and on really lucky nights, I’ll find space at the far end of the bar near the glowing fireplace.  Once seated in the perfectly dim-lit dining room, I look forward to being treated to an array of fresh-made flatbread offerings and specials.  My go to favorites?  The Medicine Wheel (wood-fired cauldron organic tomato sauce with three cheeses and fresh herbs) and Punctuated Equilibrium Flatbread (kalamata olives, oven roasted sweet red peppers, handmade VT goat’s cheese, fresh rosemary, red onions, cheeses and fresh herbs).  And, since it’s always so tough to end my escape from the cold, I usually treat myself to one more drink before venturing back out into that Vermont winter cold!